Christian Bale is in talks to star in the revenge drama project, which was once known as The Low Dweller and is being directed by Crazy Heart helmer Scott Cooper. Relativity is behind the project.

Furnace was a hot spec by Brad Ingelsby when it hit the town in 2008. It centers on a man released after serving four years in prison. His hopes for a peaceful homecoming are thwarted when his younger brother is brutally murdered and he sets out for revenge.

The project immediately attracted top directors such as Rupert Sanders and Ridley Scott as well as such actors as Mark Wahlberg. (Scott is now a producer on Furnace, via his banner Scott Free. Appian Way, the company run by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran, also is producing. Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Entertainment is exec producing.)

The project almost came together with Bale and Sanders last year, but Bale dropped out because of scheduling reasons.

The intent is for Robert Duvall, who appeared in Cooper’s Crazy Heart, to join the Furnace case, though no deals have been made.

The plan now is for Bale, repped by WME and Bloom Hergott, to tackle the movie in the spring before moving on to his media commitments for summer sure-thing blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises and shooting Terrence Malick's drama Knight of Cups.